HOWDY, MY NAME IS BILL STRONG, I'LL BE YOUR "24 HOUR MAN", ROUTING YOU INTO THE PAST TO SEE WHAT THE CIRCUS WAS IN DAYS GONE BY. IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, AND MISS WHAT IT USED TO BE, THEN COME ON ALONG AS WE GO DOWN THE ROAD FOLLOWING THE ARROWS BACKWARDS, TO "YESTERDAY'S TOWNS"!
IF YOU HAVE CIRCUS RELATED PICTURES YOU WOULD LIKE POSTED, SEND THEM TO,,,,yesterday1@verizon.net,,,,AND WE WILL TRY TO FIT THEM IN. "24 HOUR MAN" WILL HAVE THE FINAL DECISION ON POSTING.

About Me

Three years at CWM made me a real traditionalist, and I keep remembering Bob Parkinson saying, "I want the people to see what the circus used to be, not what it is today. That's what this site is about!

Saturday, June 10, 2006

SNAPSHOTS: MEMORIES OF CIRCUS FARMS

This for anonymous, (cc), This is the main drive in past the house, the concrete pillars are gone and the huge Willow Tree has been replaced by a flag pole, other than that everything is exactly the same as when we left. Strangely one of the owners since we had the place made every improvement in the house that we had planned, so much so it is spooky. I have to be honest and say, my heart is still there. These pictures were taken last December by Jay Yowler, my oldest son David's best friend since they met on the school bus in the first grade. Jay is now a "gaffer" in the Film Industry, and my youngest son, Steven often works as his, "best boy".

11 Comments:

Bill, You might know this. Did Alan Gold get out of the business after he returned from Europe? I know that Mr. Cuneo was housing Alan's animals while they were overseas. I don't believe I ever heard of him again.Bob

I don't know the details of Alan's old act, I assume Mr Cuneo purchased it. The good hind leg walker, Mia, went into Trudy's, the rest of the act sold to someone in S.E. Asia, to be worked by Sergio Casa Grande. The act remained at Hawtorn Winter Quarters for months before finally being shipped. Alan worked the white act for a short while and retired, he is now in charge of the underwater operations on "O" in Vegas. By the way David Chabira, (Pirates of The Sky, & Centrons), is now in charge of the aerial rigging on that show.

Bill, this looks Wisconsinish, but it's not cold enought to be here-- where is this, and then if it's as neat as it looks and sounds,why did you guys leave it??? I can just picture you climbing those trees to put christmas tree lights on, kind of like lampoon's christmas vacation, only different -- bet you wouldn't even need ladders to do it, you young guys probably just climb up the branches , or hung on that wire across the top of the page, and just flung the light strings on the trees!!

Leaving Circus Farms is a long story, for one thing we were never home, and finding someone reliable to care for the place was hard. I guess we also got tired of knocking the ice out of the horses' water buckets every morning, in the Winter. The funny thing was in the decision to move back to Fla. we were booked at CWM and didn't have time for the move so we put everything in storage. Because of going to Vargas, & then Hawthorn it was 15 years before we finally got moved.

I wish I was older. I would love to take care of it for you. bill it you think about it hard, you will know who anonymous is. how does this person know so much about your high school time and circus Farm. clue: hardware store

Bill... I remember having a couple nice visits with you at that farm. All my family has moved, and I never get back to that area anymore. I guess this would be as good a time as any to send out a big THANK YOU. I had a great 20 year run in the business (that was just enough!). My career may have never gotten off the ground without some great help from you and Trudy and Dime and Connie, and of course many others.

Wouldn't "Off-Season" with a site like this make a great TV series? The performing animals do a lot of eating and most of the drama is in the comings and goings of trucks, trailers, trainers, exotic beasts and showbiZ personalities, only occasionally showing a wee bit of rehearsal or planning for new shows -- lots of negotiating contracts, rumors, and battles to get the truth out, friends reunited or parted, love, loyalty, experiments with stunts that make history and ones that go back to the drawing board. The kind of stuff that keeps us reading the blogs.